Petalumans celebrate the right to read

Local bookstores and libraries prepare to celebrate Banned Books Week|

2017’s top 10 most banned or challenged books

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom annually tracks all challenges to library, school and university reading materials According to the ALA, in 2017, there were 416 challenges made.

Of those, the top 10 most challenged books, in order, are the following.

This list was compiled and published by the American Library Association. The learn more, visit ALA.org.

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY

Written by Jay Asher

Originally published in 2007, the New York Times bestseller has resurfaced as a controversial book after Netflix aired a TV series by the same name. This YA novel was challenged and banned in multiple school districts because it discusses suicide.

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN

Written by Sherman Alexie

Consistently challenged since its publication in 2007 for acknowledging issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and sexuality, this National Book Award winner was challenged in school curriculums because of profanity and situations that were deemed sexually explicit.

DRAMA

Written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier

This Stonewall Honor Award-winning, 2012 graphic novel from an acclaimed cartoonist was challenged and banned in school libraries because it includes LGBT characters and was considered “confusing.”

THE KITE RUNNER

Written by Khaled Hosseini

This critically acclaimed, multigenerational novel was challenged and banned because it includes sexual violence and was thought to “lead to terrorism” and “promote Islam.”

GEORGE

Written by Alex Gino

Written for elementary-age children, this Lambda Literary Award winner was challenged and banned because it includes a transgender child.

SEX IS A FUNNY WORD

Written by Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth

This 2015 informational children’s book written by a certified sex educator was challenged because it addresses sex education and is believed to lead children to “want to have sex or ask questions about sex.”

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Written by Harper Lee

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, considered an American classic, was challenged and banned because of violence and its use of the N-word.

THE HATE U GIVE

Written by Angie Thomas

Despite winning multiple awards and being the most searched-for book on Goodreads during its debut year, this YA novel was challenged and banned in school libraries and curriculums because it was considered “pervasively vulgar” and because of drug use, profanity, and offensive language.

AND TANGO MAKES THREE

Written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole

Returning after a brief hiatus from the Top Ten Most Challenged list, this ALA Notable Children’s Book, published in 2005, was challenged and labeled because it features a same-sex relationship.

I AM JAZZ

Written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings and illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas

This autobiographical picture book co-written by the 13-year-old protagonist was challenged because it addresses gender identity.

[youtube: yyd2kII-8D4]

It’s September, which means schools are in session, paper and pens are selling at a higher rate than during the summer, and National Banned Books Week is about to be celebrated.

“Simply put,” says Ray Lawrason, assistant manager of Petaluma’s Copperfield’s Book Store, “a banned book is a book that someone doesn’t want you to read. And National Banned Books Week is a way of saying, not on our watch.”

Lawrason is standing within a few feet of a small, tidy, display - part of the store’s annual observation Banned Books Week, Sept. 23-29 - over which hangs a placard saying, “Celebrate your right to read.” Elsewhere is a smaller sign declaring, “Banning books silences stories. Speak Out!” The display features rows of books, all of which have been challenged and banned in the past, for one reason or another – S. E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders,” Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Allen Ginsburg’s “Howl,” “Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” and several others.

“By definition, a banned book is a book that has been actively challenged and removed from course curriculum and schools, or from public libraries, or in some cases, made unlawful by governments and forbidden to be sold in bookstores,” Lawrason says. “All of those – schools, libraries, bookstores – they are places where you would and should expect to have a complete access to all reading material. Banned Books Week, which I personally love, was created to call attention to the fact that there will always be people trying to control the ideas you are allowed to consider - and to remind us that it’s easier than we might assume to lose the right to think, and to read, for ourselves.”

Banned Books Week – promoted jointly by the American Library Association and Amnesty International - was first observed in 1982. The annual observation was co-created by librarian-activist Judith Krug, who served as Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association. Aware that a large number of books had been banned in the U.S. that year, Krug set out to let readers know their First Amendment rights were being gradually eroded by those who sought to remove titles from schools and libraries, purportedly as a way of protecting children from ideas, language, situation and historical details they might find upsetting, or that might differ from the viewpoints of their parents.

Said Krug to the New York Times, in 1997, “We want to provide as much information as we can, and say to our users, ‘It is all here. You make the choice. You should have access to ideas and information regardless of your age.’ If anyone is going to limit or guide a young person, it should be the parent or guardian - and only the parent or guardian.”

In the U.S., Banned Books Week is supported by a number of organizations, including the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers, and the National Association of College Stores.

“Generally, when we’re talking about banned books, there’s been some sort of governmental ban on a book, from a school board or other organization,” explains Ross Lockhart, a bookseller at Copperfield’s Petaluma, and the owner and publisher of Word Horde Books, a Petaluma-based publishing company devoted to “weird fiction,” works of horror, science fiction and fantasy. “A ban is not something as simple as a vegetarian book store choosing to not carry a book of barbecued beef recipes. A merchant has the right to sell what they want to sell, and not sell what they don’t want to sell. That’s not a ban. A ban is when a parent or local group throws a fit about a book, and wants to forbid people - either kids or adults depending on the situation - from ever reading that book or encountering those ideas.”

In this day and age, Lockhart points out, we see fewer of the classic book burning events that once made the nightly news. Instead, he says, we are seeing quiet political campaigns to challenge a library or school’s decision to carry a particular book.

“And when you start to look at facts and figures,” he says, “it’s interesting to note that female authors, LGBT authors, and authors of color, all tend to have their books challenged more than anybody else. It’s definitely the case that most challenges come from small political or religious groups that feel threatened, and want to exert some control over what people can and cannot read, but minority authors tend to draw more challenges than all others.”

Diana Spaulding, a librarian at the Petaluma Regional Library, agrees.

“Minority viewpoints are often challenged,” she says. “A feminist story or a story about an LGBT teen, is more likely to draw fire than a book about something else, told from a more mainstream perspective. I fully expect the new “Trans Teen Survival Guide” to be challenged somewhere.”

According to Spaulding, the Petaluma Library, just in time for Banned Books Week, has recently received a list of those books that were challenged or banned in 2017 and early 2018.

Echoing the above quote from Judith Krug, Spaulding adds, “The American Library Association’s response to all book challenges is that libraries provide information, and from that pool of information people choose the info they want to read and view. If you have an opinion, you are welcome to make it, obviously. But you should never inhibit the free flow of information to everyone else.”

(Send comments to Community Editor David Templeton at david.templeton@arguscourier.com)

2017’s top 10 most banned or challenged books

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom annually tracks all challenges to library, school and university reading materials According to the ALA, in 2017, there were 416 challenges made.

Of those, the top 10 most challenged books, in order, are the following.

This list was compiled and published by the American Library Association. The learn more, visit ALA.org.

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY

Written by Jay Asher

Originally published in 2007, the New York Times bestseller has resurfaced as a controversial book after Netflix aired a TV series by the same name. This YA novel was challenged and banned in multiple school districts because it discusses suicide.

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN

Written by Sherman Alexie

Consistently challenged since its publication in 2007 for acknowledging issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and sexuality, this National Book Award winner was challenged in school curriculums because of profanity and situations that were deemed sexually explicit.

DRAMA

Written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier

This Stonewall Honor Award-winning, 2012 graphic novel from an acclaimed cartoonist was challenged and banned in school libraries because it includes LGBT characters and was considered “confusing.”

THE KITE RUNNER

Written by Khaled Hosseini

This critically acclaimed, multigenerational novel was challenged and banned because it includes sexual violence and was thought to “lead to terrorism” and “promote Islam.”

GEORGE

Written by Alex Gino

Written for elementary-age children, this Lambda Literary Award winner was challenged and banned because it includes a transgender child.

SEX IS A FUNNY WORD

Written by Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth

This 2015 informational children’s book written by a certified sex educator was challenged because it addresses sex education and is believed to lead children to “want to have sex or ask questions about sex.”

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Written by Harper Lee

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, considered an American classic, was challenged and banned because of violence and its use of the N-word.

THE HATE U GIVE

Written by Angie Thomas

Despite winning multiple awards and being the most searched-for book on Goodreads during its debut year, this YA novel was challenged and banned in school libraries and curriculums because it was considered “pervasively vulgar” and because of drug use, profanity, and offensive language.

AND TANGO MAKES THREE

Written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole

Returning after a brief hiatus from the Top Ten Most Challenged list, this ALA Notable Children’s Book, published in 2005, was challenged and labeled because it features a same-sex relationship.

I AM JAZZ

Written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings and illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas

This autobiographical picture book co-written by the 13-year-old protagonist was challenged because it addresses gender identity.

[youtube: yyd2kII-8D4]

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